The Rest of Atacama

Okay, so now that school is officially over, I actually have time to write...not that it's even too important anymore since I'll be home in 11 DAYS.

First things first, the rest of my Atacama trip: short and sweet version. On our second day, we took a tour out into the desert, where we jumped in a giant pond (it's so salty that you can't swim under water, you get pushed right back up to the surface), saw the salt flats, and ran through a 3-inch deep salt lake. So fun!!! We wanted to go on an astronomy tour that night since Atacama is one of the best places in the world to see the stars, but of course that was the one day it was cloudy. :(

Floatin'. I look like I'm wearing a toupee.

On our last day, we took a bike ride out into the desert, but kept having to stop because the wind was so strong we couldn't open our eyes without getting our eyeballs covered in sand. We ended up having a picnic under an ancient Incan archway carved into the rock, then rode back and did some souvenir shopping in town.

Atacama was amazing! Definitely one of my favorite trips.

On a different note...I can't believe I'm coming home so soon! So many mixed feelings. Up until last week, I couldn't wait to get back. I felt so ready to leave. But the closer it gets, the more I feel like I wish I could stay. I'm sooooooo excited to see everyone, and to eat food with flavor in it and dry my clothes in a dryer and to sleep in my own bed, and so many other things. But still, I keep getting this weird feeling that I'm scared or nervous to leave Chile and go home, like going home means losing all of the independence and freedom I've had here, even if I've been limited in other ways, like the whole language thing...I can still barely understand Chileans half the time haha. I feel like my life doesn't fit into my life at home anymore, and it's terrifying. I was talking to one of my friends who's already home, and she was saying how overwhelming it is and how she can't seem to get in tune with life back in California. I know it'll wear off eventually, but IT'S WEIRD, GUYS!!! I feel like I'm already getting reverse culture shock, and I'm not even there yet!

Everyone's starting to leave, and it's sad to see our little family here slowly get smaller. No me gusta! Not to say I'm not happy to be getting back to the states, I really am, it's just a lot harder to leave than I thought it would be, even a couple weeks ago. Okay I'll stop there. I feel like I'm not even making sense, look what this is doing to me!!! Haha see everyone soon!